Castoff
Plot McCoy faces off against a charismatic serial killer and his slick defense attorney, who claims that violent television shows made his client a killer. Cast Main cast * Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe * Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis * S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren * Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy * Carey Lowell as A.D.A. Jamie Ross * Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff Recurring cast * Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers Guest cast * Dennis Boutsikaris as Neil Pressman * Jon DeVries as Doug Gaylin * Jane Elliot as Randi Smolin * Kelly B. Eviston as Jennifer Gaylin * Edmund Genest as Warren Stevenson * John Benjamin Hickey as Charles Thatcher * Patrick Husted as Darren Fuller * Michael Alexander Jackson as Randy Johnson * Dennis Kelly as Congressman Fred Maxwell * Mitchell Lichtenstein as Eddie Chandler * Gene Saks as Judge Carl Samuel * Scott Whitehurst as Lester Metcalf * Jerry Mayer as Defense Attorney Greenwald * Jane Summerhays as Mistress Pearl * Z. Wright as First Kid * J.D. Williams as Second Kid * Mary Diveny as Old Woman * Stan Carp as Superintendent * Hope Chernov as Debbie * Emilio Del Pozo as Doorman #1 * Arthur Anderson as Old Man * Craig Bockhorn as Jury Foreman References Stuart Steiner; Sojourner Truth Community Center; National Advisory Council on Television Violence; Crimson Law Review; Harvard University; Pleasure Quest; Leslie Densch; Chicago; Aspen; Spencer Lee Artiss Quotes :Maxwell: I would rather see Eddie Chandler go free if it would stem the tide of violence and depravity in our culture. :McCoy: Mr. Pressman is right: This is not a First Amendment issue. We can all agree that what we see powerfully affects us, but that doesn't excuse us from being decent human beings, or from making moral choices. What we choose to watch, and how we react, is up to us. The baby boom generation, to which Congressman Maxwell and I both belong, grew up watching hundreds of hours of violent TV. We dressed up like Davy Crockett, with his trusty rifle, Old Betsy. Like Hopalong Cassidy, with his pearl-handled six-shooters. And what was the result of all this make-believe TV-inspired violence? We grew up to be a generation that marched against war, and preached peace, love, and flower power. And yes, Mr. Pressman watched the Vietnam War on TV, and how did that change him? I looked up his record. He became a conscientious objector, and a Harvard Law professor. Dangerous guy, huh? We are creatures of free will and moral choice. No matter what we see, read, or hear, we still make choices. Eddie Chandler, a man who murdered and tortured two innocent people, chose evil. Background information and notes * This episode is based on the case. Cunanan was a gigolo who eventually snapped and began murdering his various lovers and clients during the course of a killing spree, which culminated with the 1997 murder of the notorious Italian fashion designer . Category:L&O episodes